i am the senate republican whip jon kyl of arizona. most people know that washington is engaged in a difficult debate about the nation's debt ceiling, the limit to the amount of money be government and borrow. it is now at $14 chilean. august and the president do not reach an agreement to raise it by tuesday, -- it is now at 14 trillion dollars. if congress and the president do not reach an agreement to raise it by tuesday, spending would have to shrink by 40% quickly. markets would likely respond, dropping in value and hurting the retirement savings of millions of americans. republicans have tried to work with democrats to avoid this result and put the country on a better path. we need them to work with us. we started with the understanding that the reason the debt ceiling is a problem is because of runaway washington spending. republicans have been united in the belief that raising the debt ceiling without making significant spending reductions would be irresponsible. the debt crisis rolling across europe -- we know it is only a matt